


Regrowth

by Varewulf



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hair, Yuri, brushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23245423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varewulf/pseuds/Varewulf
Summary: Byleth is brushing Edelgard's hair in the morning, and discovers something strange.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 164





	Regrowth

**Author's Note:**

> March has not been a great month for creative inspiration and energy. Between the pandemic, family issues, and personal struggles it's been too much stress and worry. But I finally managed to get a short thing done.
> 
> I've had this idea for a while, but actually writing it was a different matter. Hard to find the right time and motivation to do it. I'm happy to finally have something written, and I hope things will soon get easier again.

"How's this?" Byleth asked.

"Perfect, as always."

It was a calm time for Edelgard von Hresvelg. The war felt like a distant memory by this point, even if they were still fighting a different kind of war. But as far as they could tell Those Who Slither In The Dark did not have much left. They'd seized a lot of their hideouts, taken down all the leaders they were aware of, even if those snakes surely had more they weren't aware of. They'd even secured a lot of the very meticulous research notes the cult had made. Between Hanneman, Linhardt, and Hubert they'd managed to decipher ways to undo some of the harm that had been done. Edelgard had her lifespan restored, and naturally they had hurried to do the same to Lysithea. Seeing the girl die before her had been one of Edelgard's big fears. She probably wouldn't have lasted long herself, but all indications had been that Lysithea had even less time.

But now they didn't have to worry about that any longer. They could enjoy life. Like Edelgard very much enjoyed Byleth brushing her hair in the morning.

"I can't improve if you tell me that every time."

"There's nothing to improve," Edelgard answered earnestly. Somehow Byleth seemed as skilled with a brush as she was with a sword. Maybe she simply considered it a different kind of weapon, and wielded it with finesse. It felt heavenly as it caressed her long strands.

"If you say so." Byleth sounded sceptical, but didn't keep arguing.

The next thing to consider was what to do with the Empire once they had fully crushed the threat of Those Who Slither. Edelgard had already pushed through most of reforms she wanted, and taken advice on more. But eventually she'd take her leave. She didn't want to rule. Had never wanted it. It had merely been a necessity. A means to an end. It shouldn't have been her in the first place. She had been so far down the succession line before the experiments had happened that it had never entered her mind.

First off it was obvious that succession by blood could not continue. She had already broken the tradition of Noble lineages. Even if she had children it wouldn't be right to make an exception for her own family to continue the Imperial lineage. They would have to implement some other system of governance, some other means of determining leadership. Edelgard would be the last emperor, then she could step down, and go somewhere with her beloved wife. She had even considered giving up the Hresvelg name. It wouldn't be so bad to be Edelgard Eisner.

"El?"

"Hm?"

"There's something strange with your hair."

Edelgard noted that Byleth sounded a little concerned, but more so confused. "What do you mean strange?"

"It looks dirty down by the roots," Byleth remarked shortly before scritching Edelgard's scalp with a nail. "Maybe it needs another wash?"

"H-hey, stop that." Edelgard brushed away Byleth's hand, then leaned forward to look in the mirror. She couldn't really see anything, so she leaned even closer. _What is she talking about?_ Just as she thought that, her eyes shot wide. She could see it. Brown. Not a lot of it, but at the very root of that length of white was a sliver of brown. "It's growing back," she whispered.

"El? Are you okay?"

"It's growing back." Edelgard felt something warm roll down her cheek.

Suddenly Byleth was hugging her. "El? What's wrong?" She sounded worried.

Edelgard wanted to say nothing was wrong, it was quite the opposite. Instead what came out of her mouth was: "It's back." She sniffled. "I-I didn't think..." She had never expected to get her original hair back. If she was being rational it was such a minor thing compared to everything else, but for some reason it was flooding her with emotion. "I... I..." She could no longer hold back, and buried her face in her wife's ample chest.

Byleth started stroking her head soothingly. She probably didn't understand what was going on, but she let Edelgard cry for as long as she needed to.

Eventually Edelgard managed to calm down, and Byleth helped her clean her face while again inquiring what was wrong. "N-not wrong... this is... my hair... as before... before..." She might have mostly calmed down, but she wasn't entirely composed yet.

"Oh." That was the only thing Byleth said before kissing Edelgard's forehead. "I'm glad." She smiled that beautiful smile of hers.

As she gradually became able to talk in proper sentences again, Edelgard said that she wanted to show off her regrowth. The buns wouldn't really do the job, plus even with Byleth's help it was a lot of work to set them up. Together they arrived at simply lifting her hair up, and tying it into a ponytail. That way it would be easily visible to everyone as it grew out more.

* * *

"So that's what's going on," Lysithea said. She had been quite surprised when Edelgard had shown up to teatime with a different hairstyle. "It's happening with me too." That had been an even bigger surprise when she had first noticed it. You could even call it a shock.

"Oh?" Byleth looked curious.

Lysithea lifted her hair up from her forehead so they could see her roots. "See?" Both Edelgard and Byleth leaned forward.

"Oh!"

"Black, huh?" Edelgard commented.

"Yes." Lysithea let her hair fall back down. "I... uh... I've actually been thinking about cutting it shorter... so it's more visible when it grows back." While she didn't mind having long hair, at this point it served as a reminder of her painful past. Since she was finally at a stage where she could move on from that, maybe it was time to move on from the old hair as well.

"That's not a bad idea." Edelgard smiled warmly. "I think it would suit you." The two of them had formed a close bond thanks to their unfortunately shared experiences. Lysithea sort of thought of her as a sister now, and perhaps Edelgard felt the same way, even though neither of them had said it out loud. They had both lost so much.

Byleth smiled too. "I guess you'd kinda look like Hubert's little sister."

That comment brought all of Lysithea's thoughts to a sudden halt. Her and Hubert had pretty much the same shade of pitch-black hair. They were both dark mages. Similarly pale skin. She could all too easily see a situation in which people would think that. Finding new family was one thing, but people thinking she was related to Hubert was another.

"On second thought, maybe I should find some bleach to stick my head in."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't remember if Lysithea's original hair colour was ever stated in the game (I don't think I've watched all of her support conversations), but it amuses me to think of it as pitch black.


End file.
